Christian Groups Confront Pro-Trump Rally With This Quote From Jesus

Christian organizations protested the pro-Trump ReAwaken America Tour in Miami this week by highlighting a Bible verse that warns of "false prophets."

The ReAwaken America Tour is a conservative conference in favor of former President Donald Trump that travels across the United States and features several high-profile conservative speakers including former national security adviser Michael Flynn, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and pundit Charlie Kirk. The tour has faced criticism over its embrace of right-wing conspiracy theories and Christian nationalism, with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) describing it as "a series of controversial far-right conferences."

The tour's most recent stop in Miami has drawn protests from more progressive Christian organizations, who have sounded the alarm about the rise of Christian nationalism in the U.S.

The Miami conference began on Thursday and will conclude on Saturday evening. According to the schedule posted online, it included speeches focusing on a variety of issues including opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine. Eric Trump, the son of the former president, also spoke at the event.

Organizations including Christians Against Christian Nationalism as well as Faithful America protested the conference over the weekend with billboards.

One of these billboards confronted the conference with the Bible verse Matthew 7:15-20, in which Jesus said, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves."

Amanda Tyler, the lead organizer of Christians Against Christian Nationalism and executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, wrote in a statement to Newsweek on Saturday that she attended the conference, where she "watched speakers mix Christian imagery and language with lies and conspiracy theories about COVID vaccines and the security of our election system."

"We organized a Christian counter-witness because we are horrified to see the faith we hold dear being used to spread lies, violence and authoritarian theocracy," she added. "We are here to say to the millions of Christians across this country who are likewise horrified and angry about Christian nationalism – you are not alone."

Reverend Nathan Empsall, the executive director of Faithful America, also wrote in a statement sent to Newsweek on Saturday that the "toxic blend of baptisms, MAGA election denial, and QAnon misinformation on display by ReAwaken America at Trump Doral this weekend is not what Jesus wants."

"That's why tens of millions of Christians across the country have rejected the MAGA movement's anti-democracy and antisemitic Christian nationalism and will continue striving for love, equality, and the common good," he wrote.

Newsweek also reached out to the ReAwaken America tour for comment via email.

The conferences have previously made headlines for its speakers' controversial remarks. In October, one speaker, Bo Polny, warned that the "angel of death" would be "coming for" several politicians, including President Joe Biden and Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican. Meanwhile, concerns that the conference would draw white supremacists prompted a venue in Rochester, New York, to cancel the event last July.

In the weeks leading up to the conference, Faithful America launched a petition to show its rejection of the "far-right" tour. That petition, which describes the tour as "one of the most dangerous examples of Christian nationalism in the United States today," has received nearly 28,000 signatures.